The UK's self-appointed fashion police Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine will be getting up close and personal with their advice in Birmingham next week. Alison Jones hears what they have in store.
Susannah Constantine can be ferocious when roused, the jolly head girl demeanour is gone as she leaps to the defence of her best friend Trinny Woodall.
What's kicked her off is hearing just one side of a telephone conversation. I had asked Trinny about the problems of being both slim and perceived as stylish when anything that encourages impressionable young minds to equate thinness with glamour is generally seen as being a bad thing.
"Are you talking about Trinny's weight thing again?" she rails, as if I had actually accused Trinny of having an eating disorder.
"I mean that thing is so over, it is ridiculous and as her friend it gets me so pissed off actually."
It is quite impressive how quick she is to wield the metaphorical stick she has just grasped the wrong end of on behalf of her bosom(less) buddy.
But that is what make this pair work as presenters. They are so close they are practically family. Their double act was based on a friendship - they met at a dinner party hosted by Susannah's ex David Viscount Linley more than a dozen years ago - that came long before they started bossing the women of Britain into dressing better on the series What Not to Wear.
Susannah, whose rage quickly abates once the misunderstanding has been explained, agrees they are better together.
"I wouldn't want to do separate projects, to be honest. Being able to work with your best friend is a real luxury. Trinny sat next to Nigella Lawson at some event somewhere and she was saying 'God, you are so lucky to have each other' and she is right. We are much stronger together than we are apart.
"We do have fall outs but they are rare and they never last for long. There is no competitiveness between us and that alleviates a lot of tension."
They are also attuned to each other's moods and as frank with each other as they are with the desperate cases that come on their shows seeking a fashion fix for what ails them emotionally.
"If I go more than four hours without food I become a ratty old bag, as Susannah will testify," says Trinny, who chats on the phone between mouthfuls of breakfast
"She'll say 'you need to f****** eat something'. I am too greedy to be anorexic of any kind because I love my food," she continues.
The flat chest and bony back is, she says, simply down to genetic make up, rather than denying herself dinner.
"I have always been the same shape. My mother and sister are the same shape so people can kind of see it is my genes."
Trinny feels that it is high time we got over our obsession with skinny celebrities, and that over-stretched and undernourished supermodels should no longer be regarded as a fashionable ideal.
"We always say if you want a role model, especially for younger girls who are not of the norm - maybe they have developed breasts very early and are quite self conscious - not to make it somebody like Kate Moss. Make it somebody who does have tits and an arse.
"To me Kelly Osbourne is a great role model, somebody who probably is on some days uncomfortable with her weight but generally dresses to make the most of her shape.
"If somebody is the same shape as Kelly they should look at her and say 'that's great'. Or Beth Ditto (the unselfconciously ample lead singer of the band Gossip). Not look at someone who is so different from them they'll always come up second or third."
Trinny and Susannah are of course all about making the most of what you have got while artfully concealing the parts you are unhappy with. In Trinny's case that is her chunky (compared to the rest of her) legs, while Susannah has learned to love her curves.
"I think personal style is something that evolves," says Susannah.
"It is a never ending process especially at our time in life where we do have one foot in youth and one foot in impending old age (she is 45, Trinny is 44). You have to keep readjusting.
"I feel I found my style very recently, which is tailored simplicity really. But I have learned to have more fun with clothes."
She still makes gaffes and it is usually in situations when she is trying too hard to make an impression.
"Black tie events, red carpet things - those are the times you make most mistakes because one does it the least. Its a road less travelled."
They come to Birmingham intent on imparting wisdom through their Style Academy, assessing body shapes and styling them according to whether they are a "skittle", a "vase", an "apple", an "hour glass" or a "lollipop".
Trinny is already familiar with the city, having once presented a style slot for a daytime decorating show that was filmed here while Susannah was busy having a baby.
"I'll always remember the roundabouts," she laughs. "More recently Susannah and I have been up for book tours so we have looked at the Mailbox and the Bullring. I don't think any woman in Birmingham needs to go to London to shop anymore.
"I don't think where a woman lives makes any diference in the way she dresses, but we noticed the further north we go the more effort we have felt women have made with grooming. They'll go to the hairdresser on a Saturday or really put it on for a night out."
The Style Academy is something Trinny and Susannah have already road tested in Australia, where they had up to 20 women stripped down to their underwear on stage in packed shopping malls.
"It had a hen party kind of vibe. Susannah commented this must be what it feels like to be Prince. We'd go to these shopping centres and we would be mobbed. It was really odd but fantastic." says Trinny.
"It is something that we enjoy doing more than anything else in the whole wide world, we just love getting our hands on women because the results are so instantaneous. We know we can help people really quickly."
It was their "hands on" approach that in the early days of WNTW marked them out from all the other style gurus as they seemed disturb-ingly fond of groping various bits of the women they were making over.
They are currently on a crusade to get women to wear the right-sized bra, a fashion crime the majority of us have been committing for years if we have never bothered to get ourselves measured.
"It is an issue which is closest to our hearts and we find makes the quickest change to a woman's shape," says Trinny. "When you lift up a woman's bra and maybe she goes from two tummies to one tummy it is a really good visual."
What is surprising is not only are the women who go to the Academy willing to risk this kind of exposure, they seem to positively embrace the opportunity.
"The people who come have to be prepared that they might come on stage. Anyone can say no but we have never had that happen yet," says Trinny.
"Most people end up being adventurous and we are critiquing them not criticising. We are not saying you are a horrible person with a big bottom, we are saying this bra is not doing much for you or have you considered not wearing men's shoes?"
"We had a 70-year-old woman in front of 5,000 people down to her bra and knickers in Australia," interupts Susannah.
"She didn't go up thinking she was going to strip but she did and it was great.
"But what would be fab would be to get some men. In Australia it was about 90 per cent women, but they'd be more than welcome.
"Of course there wouldn't be much point in groping their chests, maybe their groins would be worthwhile," she adds jokingly, at least I think she is joking.
* The Style Academy, which is sponsored by Littlewoods Direct, will be part of Style in The City in Birmingham, which runs from April 3-6. There will be fashion and make up events at retailers around the city centre, including House of Fraser, Bullring, Selfridges, Mailbox and Harvey Nichols. The Birmingham Post pampering oasis in the Pavilions will provide the pefect place to rest and recharge the batteries.
There will also be catwalk shows in Centenary Square featuring top designer names. Transport, including hot pink buses and cycle rickshaws, will be laid on to take ticket holders between attractions. It costs £20 for a one day ticket or £30 for a two day pass. A platinum pass, which includes exclusive treats, lunch and a glass of Champagne, is £65. Tickets are available from www.styleinthecityevent.co.uk or by calling 0871 231 0838.
